Mounting for reflector buttons



M816}! 3, H R SCHUTZ MOUNTING FOR REFLECTOR BUTTONS Filed April 28, 1934Patented Mar.- 3,1936

UNITED STATES 2,932,595 MOUNTING FOR REFLECTOR BUTTONS Harold R. Schutz,Ottawa Hills, Ohio, assignor to Libbey Cataphote Corporation, Toledo,Ohio,

a corporation of Ohio Application April 28, 1934, Serial N0. 722,922

2 Claims.

This invention relates to an improvement in a mounting means forautocollimators or reflecting buttons of the lens mirror type in whichan incident ray of light is refracted and reflected back to its sourceor substantially so. A plurality of such autocollimators are mounted ona panel to form a character or sign which is visible at night toautomobile passengers, due to the rays of the automobile headlightsbeing reflected back to the automobile. This invention is directedspecifically to a mounting by which such buttons are held on the panel.

The primary object is to provide a mounting that will securely hold abutton in position on a panel and will protect the button fromunauthorized removal.

Another object is to provide such a mounting which is simple andinexpensive to manufacture and which is easily applied to a panel.

Still a further object is to provide such a mounting which will insure areflector button being mounted with its axis aligned with the housingand perpendicular to the panel.

Other objects will be apparent from the following description.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a central longitudinal sectional view of such a mountingmounted on a panel with a reflector button.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the outer shell of the mounting split inhalf longitudinally.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the inner of the mounting.

In detail I is a cylindrical glass reflector button having an objectivelens 2 and a reflecting rear surface 3 and provided with acircumferential shoulder 4 adjacent its objective lens 2. The button isfurther provided with an oppositely disposed circumferential shoulder 5positioned slightly to the rear of a point midway between the objectivelens 2 and the reflecting surface 3.

The mounting proper comprises an inner cylindrical shell 6 provided withthreads 1 adjacent shell its closed rear end and has an outwardlyprojecting rim 8 that is folded back upon itself to form an inwardlyprojecting rim 9. Two outwardly bent prongs 10 are cut from the sides ofthe inner shell 6 as is clearly shown in Fig. 3.

The outer shell II is of slightly larger diameter and is provided withthreads l2 adapted to cooperate with the threads I of the inner shell.The sides of the outer shell I I at a point forward of the threads l2are formed with an outward bend l3 and an upward bend 14 resulting inthe upper diameter of the shell being greater than the base diameter.The edge I5 of the rim is turned outwardly at right angles to the planeof the side of the shell to form a flat bearing sur-- face Hi.

In operation the reflector' button of the shape described is placedwithin the inner shell 6 with a circular pliable gasket ll abutting theshoulder 5 and with its object lens 2 exposed, its central side portionabutting the side of the shell to insure correct alignment, and the rimof the shell is folded down over the shoulder as at 9, thus holding thebutton securely within the inner shell, the gasket I'l compressedbetween the shoulder 5 of the button and the reduced or threaded portionI of the shell. A circular hole is then provided in the desired positionon the panel I8 having a diameter only slightly greater than that of theinner shell. The button mounted in the inner shell is then pushedthrough this hole until the inwardly projecting rim 9 rests against theouter surface of the panel l8. As this is done the prongs l0 bendinwardly as they are forced through the hole and then snap out to normalposition as shown in Fig. 1. The outer shell H is then threaded ontoshell 6 and tightened until bearing surface l6 contacts the innersurface of the panel which then becomes clamped between surface l6 andrim 9. It will be noted that the upper part of outer shell H is enlargedto provide clearance for the spring prongs III of the inner shell. It iscustomary to provide a backing panel which will enclose the rear portionof the assembly and it is therefore apparent that unauthorized removalfrom the front is not permitted by the prongs H) which act as barbs. Theassembly can only be removed from the rear of the panel by unscrewingthe outer shell and then compressing the prongs and pushing the innershell out through the hole.

I claim:

1. A reflector button mounting comprising a button encasing member,outer threads formed at the lower end thereof, an outwardly extendingshoulder at the upper end, upwardly directed compressible prongsextending outwardly from the side of said member above the threadsadjacent and opposing said shoulder to form stop members, a hollowclamping member, inner threads formed at the lower end thereof, the wallof said casing member being formed outwardly and upwardly above saidinner threads to provide a housing for said prongs when said two membersare threaded together and a bearing sbeurface formed at the rim of saidclamping mem- 2. A mounting assembly to be mounted within a. circularopening in a panel and adapted to hold a reflector button comprising abutton encasing member, outer threads formed at the lower end thereof,an outwardly extending shoulder at the upper end, upwardly directedcompressible prongs extending outwardly from the side of said memberabove the threads and adjacent said shoulder to oppose the rear of thepanel, said encasing member adapted to be pcsitioned within the circularopening in the panel, the lower end extending rearwardly, the shoulderabutting the panel front, the prongs adjacent and opposing the rear ofthe panel to prevent removcontacts the rear of the panel to clamp the 10panel between it and the shoulder of the encasing member thus securingthe button in position andencasing the prongs.

HAROLD R. SCHUTZ.

